Many vehicles come equipped with remote start capabilities. In these vehicles, the user will engage a feature on a key fob and a vehicle will respond by engaging the engine. Some remote start features may include automatically setting a vehicle temperature and engaging certain vehicle climate features. Automatic locking of vehicle doors may also be provided, so that a started vehicle cannot be driven away. While convenient, users may forget to start the vehicle on certain mornings, even if starting the vehicle remotely is typically part of a morning routine.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,542,827 generally relates to a method for scheduling the remote starting of an engine of a vehicle. The vehicle includes a remote starting device and a controller coupled to a communication device and to the remote starting device. The remote starting device is responsive to commands from the controller. The method includes a first step of defining a schedule of starting times. A next step includes entering the schedule in the controller. A next step includes controlling an operation of the remote starting device in accordance with the schedule.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,489,085 generally relates to a system and method for a vehicle remote starter with an advanced dynamic scheduling system. The system and method utilizes a cellular telephone, interfacing with standard scheduling software, and capable of communicating with the Internet to gather real time data and communicating through a wireless telecommunication network with a vehicle to send vehicle remote start and other commands; an electronic scheduling system utilized within or accessible by the cellular telephone; a cellular telephone based and/or vehicle based GPS location module for determining the location of the vehicle and the cellular telephone at any particular point in time; a set of coded instructions that actively queries the Internet for real time data and that queries the electronic scheduling system to determine the time and location of a scheduled meeting, evaluating various vehicle operational parameters, the distance of the cellular phone from a vehicle, various environmental parameters, the distance from a vehicle to meeting location, the travel time required to timely travel and attend the scheduled meeting, and either prompting the user to actively send a remote start command signal to the vehicle or automatically sending the remote start command signal.